A typical collection of lapidary clues from Armonie. I am always impressed by his concision and the natural surface readings.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EVENING OUT EVEN (all the more) IN (concerned with) GOUT (foot problem). “Trip in the dark” was a clever definition, I thought |
| 7 | EDGE HEDGE (plant) minus the initial H |
| 9 | CRAM C (bit of croissant) RAM (butter) |
| 10 | MEERSCHAUM *(EACH SUMMER) |
| 11 | RIDDEN RID (free) DEN (study) |
| 12 | AVERSION A (amateur) VERSION (portrayal) |
| 13 | CHAPATTI CHAP (fellow) ATTI[c] (Greek, cut) |
| 15 | AMEN hidden in steAM ENgines |
| 17 | RAFT R (runs) AFT (behind) |
| 19 | GANGSTER ANGST (uneasiness) in GER (German) |
| 22 | ADROITLY *(DORY [from 26 across] TAIL) |
| 23 | OBJECT dd |
| 25 | WELLINGTON WELLING (rising) TON (fashion) I found this tricky; I spent some time looking for an anagram of IN FOOTWEAR, then some more time looking for a reversed word meaning “fashion” in a word meaning “footwear” |
| 26 | DORY O (Oscar) in DRY (overcooked) |
| 27 | TSAR S (small) in TAR (Jack) |
| 28 | COMPENSATE PEN (writer) SAT (settled) in COME (advance) |
| Down | |
| 2 | VARNISH R (rex or regine, hence monarch) in VANISH (disappear) |
| 3 | NOMAD NO (not really) MAD (disturbed) |
| 4 | NOMINATE MIN (ministry) A (one) in NOTE (memo) |
| 5 | OPERATING SYSTEM *(STOP NASTY REGIME) |
| 6 | TESTER dd |
| 7 | EPHESIANS *(A SHIP SEEN) |
| 8 | GLUCOSE COS (Lettuce) in GLUE (sticky stuff) |
| 14 | PATROLLER PAT (Irishman) ROLLER (posh car) |
| 16 | ANNOUNCE ANN (girl) OUNCE (lightweight) |
| 18 | ADDRESS AD (hoarding) DRESS (clothing) |
| 20 | EXCERPT R (rare) in EXCEPT (bar) |
| 21 | ETHNIC N (kinght) in ETHIC (moral values). A knight is abbreviated N in modern chess notation |
| 24 | JUDAS SAD (sorry) U (union) J (jack), all reversed. The cryptic reading of this clue is not as smooth as it could be; I would have left out the first “is.” |
Thanks, Agentzero – nothing too difficult but enjoyable. [I liked 9ac and 8dn!]
I may have been influenced by its appearance in today’s Guardian Rover [‘plant with variegated edges’] but I took the plant in 7ac to be ‘sedge’.
Wait a minute, the indian bread in 13a should be “chapati” with a single “t”.